The Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Morgan Stanley Capital International are teaming up to establish an index licensing partnership that will see the CME launch MSCI EAFE futures in the first quarter of 2006.

The futures contract based on the MSCI EAFE index is designed specifically to help investors engage in a variety of trading and portfolio management strategies in developed international equity markets. The new contract will be listed for trading on March 20, 2006, and will trade exclusively on the CME Globex electronic trading platform.

“CME continues to expand its global reach and attract new customers with innovative products, targeted incentive plans and a network of telecommunications hubs around the world,” said CME chairman Terry Duffy. “The CME E-mini MSCI EAFE futures contract expands our growing international equity index product line. With the MSCI EAFE Index and some of the most widely recognized non-U.S. equity indexes, as well as all major U.S. indexes, CME now offers the tools to manage risk across nearly every major equity market in the world.”

“We are delighted to have licensed our MSCI EAFE Index to CME as the basis of a futures contract,” said Rabbe Ekholm, managing director of MSCI Barra. “A futures contract will further compliment the EAFE Index as the premier international benchmark.”

Created in 1969, the MSCI EAFE Index comprises 21 MSCI country indices, representing the developed markets outside of North America. Approximately $1.5 trillion is benchmarked to the EAFE Index globally. Additionally, the EAFE Index is the basis for the second largest exchange traded fund in the world.